Greetings and Happy New Year!
What a great month December was. We’ve found ourselves busier than usual and even though we are tired we’re so thankful for all the things we’ve taken part in. This past month Timo and Juliana started visiting people who had expressed interest in having a Bible Study in their home. These visits don’t always go as planned and more often than not things get lost in translation, but they have seen God at work and we love hearing about people receiving prayer. Braden and I will be visiting people in a different area of Baguio at the beginning of the New Year. We each go with different members of the church and we have been paired with two lovely ladies name Rizza and Milena and the youth pastor Romar. Please be praying for us as we try to reach people in the area that surrounds the basketball court we meet in to have church services and a barangay (town) a couple of miles away. The hope is to someday plant a church in the Barangay that Timo and Juliana visit.
This month we also spent lots of time preparing for our Christmas program. During our Christmas program we put
on a skit, sang songs with kids, played games and ate! The nights leading up to our Christmas program we caroled around the church and the pastor’s house. People Christmas carol like crazy here! We often saw kids caroling for money. It’s actually the biggest reason people do this. We of course did not carol for money. We made a point of inviting everyone we sang for to our Christmas program and we gave away candies as an added bonus. People seemed to be shocked when we politely declined their token and gave them an invitation and candies instead. One man did give us fruit cake we just couldn’t turn down. Through the preparation of all of this we spent many hours with the youth group building friendships and getting to know their dynamics.
Christmas Eve was very fun. We spent the day cooking and relaxing as well as preparing for a night of eating and games. Although I missed my family very much I was able to enjoy my time with my team and the Arcano family. Today, Christmas Day, felt like a long recovery from a night of shenanigans.
On a more personal note I’d like to share how much God has been reminding me of what I’ve been created to do. During a time of silent prayer with the youth group I asked God what specific thing He was calling me to, to which he responded, “Love me all the days of your life.” I was overcome with tears. “Love you? Till the day that I die,” I exclaimed. Days later during a life journal reading, I read about Jesus asking his disciples, “Do you love me?” To which they all responded, “of course!” (I’m paraphrasing). Then He said, “Take care of my lamb, feed my sheep and follow Me.” I felt He was answering my question directly. So that’s where I’m at. Loving God and learning how to take care of and feed the Lord’s sheep as well following my shepherd more closely.
As always I have some prayer requests:
- Guidance and structure of outreach activities
- Good communication with church leaders
- Continued growth and dependency on Jesus
- Growth and maturity for church members
Thank you for your continued love and support.
–Former Tabor College Admissions Counselor Jessica Garcia is serving the Lord in a different capacity. Garcia is on TREK with MB Mission, a 10-month discipleship in missions program.